Road maintainer



1,521,227 0, M. BRILEY ET AL ROAD MAINTAINER Filed Nov. 27. 1922 s'sh'eets-shet 2 INVENTO A TTORNEYS.

0. M. BRILEY ET AL- Dec. 1924.

ROAD MAINTAINER s Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 27, 1922 i INVEN TOR. ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 38, 1924.

ii an F5 OTHO M. BRILEY, 0}? AMES, AND GROVER A. BLUNT, 01F DUB'UQUE, IOWA, ASSIGNORS OF ONE-THIRD TO B. V]. SIMPSON, OF DUBUQUE, IOWA.

ROAD MAINTAINER.

Application filed November 27, 1922. Serial No. 603,597.

To aZZ whomc'zf may concern:

Be it known that we, OTI-IO M. BRIL-EY and Gnovnn A. BLUNT, citizens of the United States, and residents of Ames, Story County, Iowa, and Dubuque, Dubuque County,,1owa, respectively, have invented new and useful Improvements in Road Maintainers, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in road maintainers, more particularly adapted for public highways.

Road maintainers as now in ordinary use are adapted to be pulled over the surface of the road and scrape the surface and deposit the scrapings in the center or on one side of the road in the form of a ridge. The material of the ridge then has to be manually or otherwise spread over the road to level up the inequalities of the surface, and thus considerable time and labor is required to maintain the surface of the road in proper condition.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to overcome the before mentioned objectionable features and provide a road .maitainer which will scrape the surface and discharge the scraped material into the ruts or low places, thus leveling the surface while traveling thereover.

A further object of the invention is to provide a road maintainer which will scrape the high places in the road and convey the scraped material back and forth until it is deposited in the low places while the maintainer is traveling over the road.

A further object of the invention is to provide a road maintainer having means for adjusting the scraping members to form a flat surface or a crown of any desirable angle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a road maintainer having means for separating the larger stones or lumps of earth from the other material and discharge the said stones on one side of the road.

A further object of the invention is to provide a road maintainer which may be easily mounted upon for use or removal from, the ordinary tractor.

\ A further object of the invention is to provide a road maintainer which may be easily elevated to a position to permit the maintainer to be moved to different positions of use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a road maintainer which is of simple construction, is strong and durable, and is well adapted for the purpose described.

lVith the above and other objects in View, the invention consists of the improved road maintainer and its parts and combinations as set forth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof.

In the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the. views:

Fig. 1 is a side view of the improved road maintainer shown mounted on a tractor, the tractor being indicated by dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the maintainer and its supports removed from the tractor;

Fig. 3 is a front view of the maintainer and the tractor, the tractor being shown by dotted lines; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail View taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 8 indicates a tractor of ordinary construction, which is provided with forwardly and rearwardly extending frame members 9 and 10 having transverse front and rear portions 11 and 12 which projects laterally outwardly.

Extending on opposite sides of the tractor 8 in parallel relation are two I-beam side members 13 connected together by cross angle bars 13, and to the lower edge portions of said side members the diagonally extending scraper members 14:, 15 and 16 are connected. The Scrapper members 1 1 and 16 extend obliquely with relation to the I-beams 13, and the direction of travel, and are substantially parallel to each other, while the intermediate or medial scraper 15 extends diagonally in the opposite di rection, and forms with the other scrapers approximately a zigzag construction. Angularly extending brace bars 17, 18, 19 and 20 connect intermediate portions of the scraper members 14:, 15 and 16 to the side members 13 to rigidly connect the parts together. Other brace bars 21 and 22 connect the adjacent ends of the scraper members together. Particular attention is directed to the fact that the rearward end 1a of the scraper member 14 extends laterally ill from the side portion of the maintainer a less distance than the forward end 15 of the scraper member 15, or in other words, the bars are endwise staggered so that scraped material moving along the front face of the member 14 and discharged from the end thereof will be in the path of movement of the forward end 15 of the scraper 15 and moved in the opposite direction thereby. The opposite or rearward end 15 of the member 15 extends laterally likewise a less distance than the forward end 16 of the rear scraper member 16 so that the scraped material discharged from the rear end 15 ofthe member 15 will be in the path of movement of the scraper memberf16 and moved in the opposite direction thereby, so that the scraped earth or other material engaged by the maintainer will be moved in a zigzag course over the road, and portions of the earth scraped from high places will pass beneath the scraper members and be pulverized when said members pass over ruts or low places in the road, thus filling the same and serving to maintain the road in a level condition.

The end portions 15 of the member 15 is provided with an extension 23 having downwardly extending rake teeth 24 which are adapted to engage the larger stones or lumps of material and deflect them to one side of the road, while permitting the finer material to pass between the teeth and be engaged by the scraper member 16.

To support the side members 13 inedially of their length, shoes 25 are mounted thereon which bear upon the road as shown in Fig. 1.

The scraper members 1 1, 15 and 16 are formed of commercial angle steel positioned with one edge extending downwardly and one fiat face extending forwardly in the direction of travel of the maintainer, so that the lower edge scrapes the material from the. high places in the road and the fiat faces direct it to the lower places.

To provide for raising and lowering the maintainer and to adjust its scraping height,

cables or chains 26 and 26 are connected at their lower ends to portions of the side members 13 and to the rear cross bar 13 connecting the rear portions of the side members together. The forward end portions of the cables 26 extend upwardly and over pulleys 27 and then rearwardly to the rear portion of the frame and are wound around windlass shafts 28, while the cables 26 extend directly upwardly and are also wound around the Windlass shafts 28. Said shafts carry worm wheels 29 which are in mesh with worms 30 mounted on the short vertical shafts of hand wheels 81. As thus supported, the hand wheels may be turned to raise or lower the maintainer or to tilt it to any angle desired, so that the scraping edges may be inclined to the inclination of the crown of the road being worked:

The maintainer is also connected to the tractor frame by crossed'cables or chains 32 and 33 to limit the side sway of said maintainer with respect to its support. Traction cables or chains 34 connected to the rear scraper member 16 extend forwardly and upwardly and are attached to the tractor and the maintainer is moved thereby.

The maintainer may be easily attached to any tractor by mounting the upper frame members thereon, and when attached may be easily adjusted as to height and inclination. As the maintainer is formed entirely of metal, it is comparatively heavy and of sufiicient weight to maintain its adjusted position while scraping the road and moving and pulverizing the scrapings in azig zag course over the road and depositing the pulverized material in the low places.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the road maintainer is of very simple construction and is well adapted for the purpose desired.

What we claim as our invention is:

1. A road maintainer, comprising a movable member, a scraping member moved thereby, means independently adjustably supporting opposite side portions of the scraping member from the movable means, said scraping member formed of diagonally extending scraper bars in endwise offset relation and angularly staggered with respect to each other, one of said bars having an extension at its discharging end for deflecting outwardly larger particles of scraped material while permitting the passage of finer particles to the adjacent bar.

2. A road maintainer, comprising a movable member, a scraper member moved thereby, means independently ad-justably supporting opposite side portions of the scraping member from the movable means, said scraping member formed of three diagonally extending scraper bars in endwise offset relation, the intermediate scraper bar extending in an opposite direction to the other bars and endwise staggered with relation thereto, said intermediate bar having an extension at its discharging end for deflecting larger particles of scraped material while permitting the passage of finer particles to the adjacent bar.

3. A road maintainer, comprising a movable member, a scraper member moved thereby, and means mounted on the movable member and connectedto opposite side portions of the scraper member'for independently adjusting the height of said side portions, said scraping member being formed of diagonally extending scraper bars in endwise oifset relation, one of saidbars extending in an opposite direction to the other bars, said last mentioned bar having an extension at its discharging end for deflecting larger particles of scraped material while permitting the passage of finer particles to the adjacent bar.

4. A road maintainer, comprising a movable member, a scraper member extending around the movable member and moved thereby, and means mounted on the movable member and connected to opposite side portions of the scraper member for inde pendently adjusting the height of said side portions, means for limiting the sidewise movement of the scraper member with relation to the movable member, said scraping member being formed of rigidly connected together diagonally extending scraper bars in endwise offset relation, one of said bars extending in an opposite direction to the other bars.

5. A road maintainer, comprising a movable member, a scraper member moved thereby, and means mounted on the movable member and connected to opposite side portions of the scraper member for independently adjusting the height of said side portions, flexible means connected to the movable member and to the scraper member for limiting the side sway of said scraper member, said scraping member being formed of diagonally extending scraper bars in endw1se oflset relation, one of said bars extending in an opposite direction to the other bars, said last mentioned bar having an ex tension at its discharging end for deflecting larger particles of scraped material while permitting the passage of finer particles to the adjacent bar.

6. In combination with a tractor, a road maintainer moved thereby, comprising frame members mounted on the tractor, a scraper member consisting of side members positioned on the outer sides of the tractor and having diagonally extending scraper bars therebeneath and connected thereto, one of said bars positioned in front of the tractor and another bar positioned in the rear thereof, an intermediate scraper bar of said bars extending in an opposite direction to the other bars and endwise staggered with relation thereto, windlass means mounted on. the frame members, and flexible means connected to the scraper member and extending upwardly and connected to the windlass means for adjusting the vertical scraping angle of the scraper bars.

7 In combination with a tractor, a road maintainer moved thereby, compnising frame members mounted on the tractor, a scraper member consisting of side members positioned on the outer sides of the tractor and having diagonally extending scraper bars therebeneath and connected thereto, one of said bars positioned in front of the tractor and another bar positioned in the rear thereof, an intermediate scraper bar of said bars extending in an opposite direction to the other bars and endwise staggered with relation thereto, windlass means mounted on the frame members, flexible connections between the scraper member and the tractor for limiting the side sway of the scraper member, and flexible means connected to the scraper member and extending upwardly and connected to the windlass means for adjusting the vertical scraping angle of the scraper bars.

8. In combination with a tractor, a road maintainer moved thereby, comprising frame members mounted on the tractor, a scraper member consisting of side members having diagonally extending scraper bars therebeneath and connected thereto, an intermediate scraper bar of said bars extending in an opposite direction to the other bars and endwise staggered with relation thereto, windlass means mounted on the frame members, flexible connections between the scraper member and the tractor for limiting the side sway of the scraper member, an extension on the discharge end of the intermediate scraper bar for deflecting larger particles of scraped material while permitting the passage of liner particles to the adjacent bar, and flexible means connected to the scraper member and extending upwardly and connected to the windlass means for adjusting the scraping angle of the scraper bars.

9. In combination with a tractor, a road maintainer moved thereby, comprising frame members mounted on the tractor, a scraper member consisting of side members having diagonally extending scraper bars therebeneath and connected thereto, an intermediate scraper bar of said bars extending in an opposite direction to the other bars and endwise staggered with relation thereto, windlass means mounted on the frame members, flexible connections between the scraper member and the tractor for limiting the side sway of the scraper member, an extension bar having downwardly extending teeth mounted on the discharge end of the intermediate scraperbar for deflecting larger particles of scraped material while permitting the passage of finer particles to the adjacent bar, and flexible means connected to the scraper member and extending upwardly and connected to the windlass means for adjusting the scraping angle of the scraper bars.

10. In combination with a tractor, a road maintainer moved thereby, comprising frame members mounted on the tractor, windlasses mounted on the frame members, a scraper member surrounding the tractor and consisting of side members having diagonally extending scraper bars therebeneath and connected thereto, and positioned in the front and rear of the tractor an intermediate bar of said bars extending in an opposite direction to the other bars and endwise staggered with relation thereto to cause the material scraped by the bars to travel in a zigzag course over the road being maintained, a flexible means connected to the scraper member and to the Windlasses for adjusting the vertical scraping angle of the scraper bars, flexible means connected to the scraper member and to the tractor for limiting the side sway of the scraper member, and flex; ible means between the tractor and. scraper member for moving the scraping member.

11. In combination with a tractor, a road maintainer moved thereby comprising frame mounted on the tracten Windlasses mounted onthe frame members a Scrapper member surrounding the tractor and consisting of side members on the outer sides or the tractor and having diagonally extending scraper bars therebeneath and connected thereto, and positioned in the front and in the rear of the tractor, said scraper bars being formed of commerciai angled metal with one edge of each bar extending down- Wardly and the outer face forwardly, an

intermediate bar of said bars extending inan opposite direction to the other bars and endWise staggered With relation thereto to cause the material scraped by the bars to travel in a zigzag course over the road being maintained, a flexible means connected to the scraper member and to the vindlasses for adjusting the vertical scraping angle of the scraper bars, crossed flexible means connected to the scraper member and to the tractor for limiting the side sway of the scraper member, and flexible means between the tractor and scraper member for moving the scraper member. V

In testimony whereof, We afi ix our signatures.

OTHO M. BRILEY. GROVER A. BLUNT. 

